Executive privilege is in the eye of the partisan

Whether members of Congress complain about the use of executive privilege seems to depend on whether they are members of the same political party as the president. Democrats threw a fit when the George W. Bush administration repeatedly asserted the privilege, while Republicans hardly said a peep. Now that President Obama has used it for the first time regarding the Fast and Furious operation by the U.S. Justice Department, Republicans are up in arms while Democrats are defending the president and Attorney General Eric Holder (in photo). Three of Kansas’ GOP House members (none of whom was in office during the Bush administration) are among the Republicans now complaining. “Invoking executive privilege has now made the president, not just his attorney general, party to the stonewalling of Congress,” Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, said in a statement. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, said: “The American public deserves transparency and confidence that any administration, regardless of party, will operate in a straightforward fashion.” Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, expressed support for a GOP-controlled House panel’s vote Wednesday to cite Holder for contempt: “I look forward to the opportunity to show my support for the contempt measure when it comes before the entire House in the next week.”